The Bet
by Aryillia
Summary: Bandits thought they were easy prey, but that night, they were the ones in for the surprise. Implied relationship between Varric and Hawke (The ship that will sadly never be - -). Just a one shot I thought of while playing Dragon Age 2 again. Set between acts 1 and 2. Rating M just in case for language and implied sexual acts.


Markus shifted nervously on his feet. He always got this way before a job. Even though they had done this dozens of times before, he always got that nervous flutter in his stomach. Even so, when it was time to do the job, he would always perform and they always got the job done. He told himself that today would be no different in hopes to quell the anxiety that had settled over him. They watched as the dwarf, a human and some knife ear girl head to the alienage. They figured that the knife ears would be staying in the alienage but the dwarf and human would not. They were most likely just escorting her home. So they decided to wait for them. The dwarf especially looked like a good target. He wore jewelry fine clothes. The woman with him didn't look like she would be carrying much, but they would get her worth out of her in other ways. His manhood twitched at the thought. She was a pretty attractive woman. Most of the times the women they got were real dogs. He would enjoy this one. He had to make sure to try to get his turn as early as possible, enjoy her while she was still fresh. "They're coming!" He heard one of his partners whisper. At the signal, they all sank back into the shadows of the alley, waiting for their chance to strike.

After dropping off Merril, Layla and Varric made their way to the hanged man. It was an eerily quiet night, which wasn't that much of a surprise. Not many people risked walking the streets of lowtown at night. Varric was telling her about the a new series he wanted to write called _Hard in Hightown_, when a movement in the shadows of an alley caught her eye. She asked Varric a question about the book only half listening to the reply as her eyes scanned around the area. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, something was wrong here. She could tell Varric noticed it too. Even though he was carrying on the conversation as normal, she could see his eyes darting back and forth between the shadows, his arms tensing subtly ready to grab Bianca from his back at any second and make her sing.

Markus' group stepped out of the shadows, coming up a few feet behind the pair. They moved silently following the seemingly oblivious pair as they conversed. These idiots didn't even know what was about to happen to them. He watched the woman flip her red ponytail back as she laughed at something the dwarf had said. Oh he was going to enjoy her, his manhood twitching again in anticipation. They got real lucky with these two tonight, definitely easy pickings. He could see the rest of his group closing off the path in front of the pair. It was about time to put their plan into action. As usual, they would give them the chance to surrender peacefully. Tell them that if they did so, they would get to go home alive. That wasn't true of course, they were going to kill them any way but it made their job a lot easier. The woman and dwarf suddenly stopped. Their conversation dying along with their footsteps. It seems they finally realized the situation they were in. He could feel his heart racing against his chest, his adrenaline pumping. This part always gave him a rush. From behind her, he could see the woman raise her hands. It looked as if she crossed her arms across her chest. She cocked her head to the side and let out a loud hmm as if she wanted everyone to know she was thinking. She then turned to her dwarf companion and he could see a smile on her face. That smile sent shivers up his spine though he wasn't quite sure why.

"How about we make a bet?"Layla asked Varric, a gleeful smile on her lips. "I bet I can kill more of these guys than you." Markus' mouth nearly dropped open. Had he heard her correctly? The dwarf looked up to his companion, a grin on his own face and responded.

"Oh? And what pray tell are we betting?"

"Loser buys the winner a pint?"

"Pfft, boooring. C'mon, give me something better." Markus looked at them aghast. What was happening here. Not only did they not seem terrified but they were talking casually about making a bet to kill them all? As if they were so sure they were going to survive this. Didn't they see how many people surrounded them now?

"Well, then you come up with something." He saw the woman make a mock pout to her companion.

"Oi" A voice from in front of the pair called out. He shifted his position to get a look and saw that it was Brutus. Usually the speaker for the group when they were doing these kinds of jobs. He watched Brutus step forward, sliding his sword out of his sheathe and pointing it at them.

"Drop yer weapons and hand over your valuables. If you don't give us any shit, you'll walk outta here alive." They completely ignored him, carrying on the conversation about the terms of their bet as if Brutus hadn't even spoken to them.

"Well.." continued the dwarf "I actually do have an idea. If I win, you have to help me with some of my guild documents...I'm uh, getting a bit behind on paperwork. But, you have to do it wearing nothing but my duster." The woman dropped her hands to her hip and let out another loud hmm.

"And if I win?"

"I'll tell you a story." She rose a brow.

"A story?"

He gave her a roguish grin. "One of those nighttime stories you love, to one of my favorite parts of your anatomy."Her eyes widened with realization and she shuddered at the thought. Oh how she did love the things that dwarf could do with his mouth.

"Oi! You rat bastards!" Brutus was getting pissed. "Did you hear me? I said.."

"Oh you are on! " The woman said to the dwarf, completely ignoring Brutus once again. Her smile turned from gleeful to downright feral and it nearly made the blood in Markus' veins freeze. The woman smashed something to the ground. He didn't see her grab anything. When did she get that? He could hear glass shatter and black smoke rise up from where she was standing. His eyes were fixed on that spot before he heard a blood curdling scream from next to him. She was there, impaling one of his partners in the back with her blades. She ripped her blades from the body and kicked it to the side. He fell right on top of Markus, knocking him to the ground.

"SHIT" He cried out as he felt the body spasm on top of him for a few seconds before stopping. He frantically tried to wiggle his way from under the body but paused when he took in the mayhem going on around him. The dwarf had a crossbow in hand, he had rained down bolts on the group that was once in front of them. They all retreated to get away from the hail raining down above them. He watched as the dwarf quickly set his sights on Brutus. Poor bastard didn't have a chance a volley of bolts pumped into his body. Another body fell in front of Markus, startling him and blocking his view. "Another one for me! How many have you got Hawke?" He heard the dwarf cry out. He felt his leg grow damp and warm. He wasn't sure if it was from the blood of the body on top of him or his piss. His mind was racing, he had to get out of here. He could hear footsteps running away from his position. It sounded like there was fighting going on a few feet away from him but no longer right next to him. This was his chance. He had to take it. With a grunt, he pushed the body off of him and looked left and right making sure the way is clear. He turned so that his stomach was facing the ground. He began scramble away, hoping he wasn't drawing attention to himself.

"So.." Varric said, coming up next to Hawke, Bianca in hand. "How many did you get?"

"Seven" She replied, grinning widely.

"Huh..a tie then?" Varric said rubbing his chin with his gloved hand.

"What? A tie? But wait...wasn't there fifteen of them?"

"Your right, I counted fifteen too." Varric replied, eyes scanning the carnage they left behind, his eyes falling to the man attempting to scramble away. "Looks like we got a runner Hawke. "

Markus froze hearing Varric. '_Shit shit shit shit'_ He thought in a panic. What was he going to do? He had to make a run for it. It was his only chance. Pushing himself self up to his feet, he started to break into a run.

"Ah, too bad you don't have a ranged weapon Hawke." Varric said as he took aim with Bianca. "Looks like this one is mine."

"I don't think so!" Hawke replied, pulling out her hidden dagger, flipping it over in her hand so that she held the blade instead of the hilt and with all her power she threw it just as Varric shot a bolt from Bianca. Markus ran with all his might. His heart beating wildly against his chest. _I can make it, I can make it. Maker just let me make it and I swear I won't do anything bad every again!' _At that thought, something strike his back. It felt like fire as it ripped into him and immediately after, another strike hit his back, pain washing over his body. His legs gave out on him and he fell to his knees. He involuntarily coughed and felt warm liquid spill from his mouth. _'sh...shit' _Was the final thought he had as he fell face first into the ground, his world going black around him. Varric and Layla walked up to the side of the man.

"Ha! My blade hit him, I won Varric."

"Sorry Hawke" Varric said, with a smile, as he put Bianca back on his back.. "You may have hit him as well, but I hit him first."

"No way!.." She started, but Varric held up a hand .

"C'mon Hawke, you know there is no way in you can throw a blade faster than Bianca and you know it."

Layla folded her hand in front of her chest and pouted. Even with all the blood splattered on her face and armor, she still managed to look utterly adorable with that pout. Varric chuckled.

"Look on the bright side beautiful, that was an amazing throw." Varric said as he pulled the blade from the bandit's back and handed it to her. She smiled accepting the blade.

"Looks like you got me to help you with your boring guild paperwork."

"Wearing nothing but my duster" He added with a grin as he bent down to the bandit in front of him. "Let's loot these morons then go get a drink and get you into my duster." He licked his lips in anticipation. He never got tired of seeing Layla's beautiful nude form, but he also found it very erotic to see her wearing his clothing. He was pretty sure they wouldn't get too much paperwork done before they would be all over each other.

Layla groaned "Do we have to include the paperwork, can't we have just skip that part and have fun?" She pouted, giving him her most adorable pretty please face she could muster.

"Tell ya what, if we get through a decent amount of work, I'll still tell you a story." Her eyes brightened and she gave him a bright smile.

"What are we waiting for then?" She asked as she merrily went along with the task of looting the bodies. Varric could only chuckle.


End file.
